Lisa Flynn is the founder and director of ChildLight Yoga® and Yoga 4 Classrooms®, organizations providing evidence-informed yoga and mindfulness education to children, as well as training and support for thousands of educators, kids yoga teachers and professionals worldwide.
During a dark period of depression and disordered eating in her college years, Lisa discovered yoga as a life-saving practice. Following her recovery, she often wondered if having these tools earlier in life may have made a difference. Could yoga provide powerful, healthy coping skills, particularly for children and youth affected by trauma or adverse life circumstances? At the time she didn't know the hows and whys, but she knew from her own experience that yoga could be transformative. The seeds were planted.
Years later, as a new mother, Lisa she noticed that when her toddlers would join her morning yoga practice, it was not only fun and natural for them, but seemed to improve their focus and mood while promoting parent child bonding. She went on to search her local area for children's yoga classes and came up empty-handed. She attended the first of many related trainings in 2003 and quickly was teaching up to 15 classes per week. ChildLight Yoga was officially founded in 2005.
Lisa developed the ChildLight Yoga Teacher Trainings and Yoga 4 Classrooms Professional Development Workshops and IMPLEMENT Leader Trainings which she and her team now share nationally. She serves as a curriculum consultant and speaks regularly at yoga, mindfulness, education and school counseling conferences, as well as schools and yoga centers around the country. She is also a respected leader and collaborator in the school yoga and mindfulness movement and greater kids' yoga community internationally.
Lisa has authored several program manuals related to yoga for children and published the Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck in 2011; and Yoga for Children: 200+ Yoga Poses, Breathing Exercises, and Meditation for Healthier, Happier, More Resilient Children (Adams Media, 2013). She contributed to Best Practices on Yoga in Schools (Yoga Service Best Practices Guide)(Volume 1), and co-created and sponsored the development of the Research Repository on Yoga and Meditation for Children, Adolescents and in Schools. She is also the co-creator of I Grow With Yoga, a popular CD of yoga songs for children. Lisa has written numerous articles on the topic of yoga for children and yoga in schools for print publications as well as through online outlets such as Elephant Journal.com. Her work has been featured by several TV news programs including Fox News and WMUR-TV's Chronicle NH, as well as in Kiwi Magazine, Parenting, Yoga Journal and Yoga Teacher Magazine, among others (see Press page).
Recently honored as Dover, NH region’s “Small Business of the Year,” her ChildLight Yoga Studio & Training Center, serves as headquarters for operations of its internationally recognized trainings and products while providing award-winning programming for expecting parents, babies, toddlers, children, teens, families and adults to the Seacoast community.
Lisa contributed to the first research study to use subjective and objective data to examine the acute and longitudinal effects of a school based yoga intervention in young children. The manuscript was recently published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Med.
In addition to 500 hours of adult yoga training received through the YogaLife Institute of NH, Lisa has earned an additional 250+ hours of yoga for children and related training through organizations such as Color Me Yoga, Yoga Ed, Every Kids Yoga, Circus Yoga, Itsy Bitsy Yoga, Musical Yoga Adventures, Yoga Minded's Yoga for Teens, Radiant Child, and Adventure Play, among others and continues her education at trainings, workshops and related conferences each year.
Lisa is an active member of several professional organizations including Yoga Alliance, IAYT, Yoga Service Council, Mindfulness in Education Network, Association for Mindfulness in Education, and the Seacoast Association of Yoga Teachers in Action (SATYA), which houses The Teen Yoga Network, which she founded in 2012. Lisa is also actively involved in several other groups and organizations which are focused on supporting and growing the field of contemplative education.
With a degree in Communication, Lisa spent over 10 years working as a Senior Advertising Executive and subsequently as a Marketing Director in Atlanta and Chicago. After moving back East to start a family, she spent five years as a Business Manager for a commercial property developer in Portsmouth, NH. She is extremely grateful to have been able to combine the knowledge gained from her professional background with her passion for yoga and children.
Most importantly, Lisa is a Mom. Admittedly, work, her children's activities and running a household can prove stressful at times. She uses yoga, meditation, gratitude and positive thinking to maintain balance in her life. Her intention is to inspire her young students to do the same, providing them with tools they can use for a lifetime of health and wellness.
Read the National Kids Yoga Conference 2015 Presenter Spotlight interview with Lisa Flynn.